Korean Job Discussion Forums

[northway]

I also work at a kindy, and outside of the hours and vacation, I'm very happy with everything at my school. We actually have a couple teachers who worked public previously, and have said many times that they're happier now than they were then, considering they have students who actually listen to them and a coworkers who are supportive rather than dismissive at best. The pay isn't great, but I like having a job where I feel like I'm accomplishing something, a feeling few of the public school teachers I know seem to have every day when they leave school.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

[SoccerFan81]

I will say that positive or negative, the hagwon experience doesn't count for much back home. At least within a public school, you have some sort of accreditation other than references. Unless you plan on staying in Korea for a good number of years, the grind of the public school may be worth it from an experience standpoint. I know plenty of hagwon folks that spent a good number of years in Korea and elsewhere that made the jump back to Canada or the States to claim a teaching job not only to find it very difficult to lock in a job, but difficult to adjust if they do. The reason? [b]In my opinion[/b], most hagwon teachers that have been around for a while either have "Trainer" or "Lead" responsibilities, thus they expect to hold the same power positioning in the States. When one is thrust back into being a mainstream teacher, it causes them to hold a bit of resentment towards "tenured" teachers. They often don't realize that their lack of actual administrative training and/or true grasp on the role of a school administrator or team leader responsibilities. I had some fair opportunities to take a lead role at some nice hagwons, but chose to go the Uni route instead. I can tell you that when I return home, I certainly don't have the delusion that I will take on the same responsibilities with the same pay at a Western Uni! It will be back to the old grind!

Sorry for going off-topic. Grading Uni essays is a bit boring today. I needed a break! [/i]

[smeggysmeg]

The hagwon experience my wife and I had wasn't terrible. The pay always came in on time, and things only were a bit screwy at the end when we found out that they were behind on making pension payments (but they caught up before we left). I wished that the hours were a little calmer, and that we had more teaching material, but we didn't come back hating it.

[Bruce W Sims]

[avae]

Hi everyone,

Like many people, I contemplate whether I should teach in hagwon or public school. I am a newly grad with a BA and I have 3 months of teaching/tutoring experience, but I'm taking an online TEFL course. Since you all are experts, would you recommend that I should do a year in public school and then get a hagwon job? Or can I handle a hagwon job with my little experience?

[thegadfly]

[Ramen]

wonderland sounds good.

[Juregen]

[SeoulESLteacher09]

My 2nd hagwon gig was a positive experience. I had a few problems, but they were very minor. I completed my contract. I am so mad at myself for not renewing!!

The hours were great (2-9pm), I had about 5-6 classes a day, my contract was honored, my students behaved most of the time, I got along with my coworkers, I always got paid on time, they provided health insurance and pension, I had an awesome officetel, the curriculum was pretty good

[kriswithak]

[avae]

Thank you thegadfly for the clarification between PS and hagwon. I guess I should start out with public school to get used to education in Korea before applying for a hagwon position.

A lot of people here praise Wonderland. Is Wonderland a hagwon chain? If so, how did you get the job there?

Thanks!

[thegadfly]

[sirius black]

Hogwans run the gamut from terrible to terrific. Ive had a great experience at mine. Family run and pretty much complete freedom. Paid on time as well. It was an easy gig. It was my first job in and a friend had worked there before. I made it difficult on myself by being too nice in the beginning. Hard to reverse that later but loved the kids.

There are plenty of terrible hogwans. The vast majority of the ones you hear about deserve scrorn. However, I will say I've sometimes heard two different experiences from a hogwan while both teachers were there at the same time. Which leads to believe that a lot of our experiences stem from our own adaptability. Some of us want things to be run like it was back home and a certain amount of flexibility has to be accepted.

As far as culture shock, I think its subjective. If its your first time out of your native country it will be. A person who has traveled often won't be as shocked. I also think that some people view a different culture differently, some view it as difficult and some view it as exciting.

[NohopeSeriously]

I'll explain what I think according to TV news and two elementary schoolteachers I had talked to at church.

There has been a huge backlash against working in public schools among native Korean teachers. The reasons are simple. A lot of teachers, from elementary to high school, are protesting against the reduction of teachers' benefits. Too many public school teachers are now informal contract workers. Teachers hate the new draconian teachers' assessment. The South Korean public unanimously hates Korean teachers' colleges for bringing up false advertisements and leads to thousands of unemployed teachers. You see news about middle-high school teachers getting beaten by their own students.

The image of public school teachers in Korea is negative compare to 2 years ago. So what are now popular in Korea among Koreans?

Hagweon and private tutoring.

A commentator from Daum.net said "There's absolutely no reason for the public to support public education. It's all over now. We don't need to make happy impressions how Obama praised our education system. They're all lies. Goodbye public education" in Korean. This kind of criticism is rather counterproductive for them. However, this is what I saw.

What am I seeing in the next few years? More hagweon and private tutoring; less public schools.